• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Monthly Checklist
  • Container Garden Design
  • Garden Coaching
  • Five ★★★★★ Speaker’s Topics
  • Portfolio

Hoosier Gardener

An informed, yet personal take on natural gardening in Indiana and other dirty topics.

An informed, yet personal take on natural gardening in Indiana and other dirty topics.
  • Home
  • Services
    • Container Garden Design
    • Garden Coaching
    • Writing & Editing
    • Virtual and In-person Talks
  • Indiana Gardening Resources
    • Monthly Gardening Checklist
    • Hoosier Gardener Blog
    • HortusScope
  • About
  • Contact
  • Shop

February 16, 2022 By Jo Ellen Meyers Sharp

Great Backyard Bird Count this weekend

Finch at tube bird feeder in winter
Bird feeders and a water source will keep birds happy in your landscape. (C) Photo Jo Ellen Meyers Sharp

         We’ve just celebrated the loved ones in our lives on Valentine’s Day and now it’s time for the birds.

         No, not the movie, but the Great Backyard Bird Count. You don’t even need a backyard to participate.

         The Great Backyard Bird Count is a global event, where people count the birds they see in their outdoors. Its sister, the Christmas Bird Count is the largest and oldest citizen scientist project in the world. People have been counting birds at Christmas for 115 years. 

         This is the 25th year for the Great Backyard Bird Count and it is easy to participate. It’s a great family nature activity, whether you have a backyard, balcony, patio, deck, or window with an outdoor view.

Getting started to watch, count birds

  1. Decide where you will watch birds.
  2. Watch birds for at least 15 minutes at least one time during the four-day bird count. 
  3. Count all the birds you see or hear at your location and within your timeframe. There are tools available to help with this.
  4. If you’re a beginning admirer of birds and new to participating in the count, download the Merlin Bird ID app. It’s free and steps you through identifying birds by their colors and form and their song. It also has maps to show where and which birds are in the area.
  5. If you’ve counted birds before, look at the eBird Mobile app, or enter  your bird list on the eBird website (for laptops and desktops).
  6. If you are going to count as a group, check out the special instruction.

What birds I see    

         Birds I see regularly in my landscape are chickadees, titmice, house finches, blue-gray nuthatches (whose song sounds like a squeak toy), brown creepers, robins, cardinals, juncos, weaver finches, mourning doves, red-bellied woodpecker, downy and hairy woodpeckers. I also have song sparrows and chipping sparrows, usually in summer.

         I get a lot of birds because I have four birdbaths in summer, two of which are heated in winter. If there’s one thing you can do to attract birds to your garden, it’s add a water source.

         I also feed the birds: Two suet feeders, two platform feeders, three tube feeders. In a month or so, I will add the feeder that attracts Baltimore orioles. I don’t have a hummingbird feeder, but I have flowers those birds like to visit.

         Learning about birds comes naturally to gardeners, I think. It’s all a part of knowing your environment and what thrives there.

Filed Under: Hoosier Gardener

Primary Sidebar

Get the Hoosier Gardener Newsletter

Follow Us!

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter

Recent Posts

Very Peri: Pantone Color of the Year

I looked up peri to see what it means. We're familiar with periscope, where peri ...

[Read More...]

February garden checklist

Indoors Keep houseplants close to bright windows. Check soil for dryness ...

[Read More...]

January garden checklist

Indoors Repot house plants as they out grow current pots. Pot amaryllis ...

[Read More...]

Guilt-free orchids

Orchids used to be very expensive and certainly not readily available at grocery ...

[Read More...]

Footer

Quick Links

Shop
Speaking
Container Garden Design
Monthly Gardening Checklist
Contact

Get the Hoosier Gardener Newsletter

Contact

Jo Ellen Meyers Sharp
The Hoosier Gardener
thehoosiergardener@gmail.com

Copyright © 2022 · Hoosier Gardener - All Rights Reserved · Privacy Policy · Terms of Service ·Sitemap

Affiliate disclosure: Amazon links are affiliate links and Jo Ellen will receive a small commission from items purchased via the links.